Startling Statistics About Social Media for Business
As social media continues to grow, some of the things we thought we knew about it have changed. Here are some of the latest statistics for 2018.
GENERAL
• 95% of adults aged 18-34 online are likely to follow a brand via social networking.
• 71% with a good experience with a brand will recommend it to others.
• Visual content gets 40% more views than other types of content.
• 50 million small businesses use Facebook Pages to connect with customers. Four million of these pay for Facebook advertising.
• 68% of marketers have posted video content on Facebook.
• The best time to post is 3PM on Wednesdays, 12-1PM on weekends, and 1-4PM on Thursdays and Fridays. Continue reading →
Why a Well-Done Intake Interview is Vitally Important to Writing Copy
When working with a new client, we always perform what we call an “Intake Interview.” This interview is valuable in a number of ways.
Get the Facts
First, it provides us with the facts we need about a company’s products, services, customer service policies, history, background, target customer audience and goals.
Get the Tone
Second, it gives us the opportunity to “hear” the company owner. We listen not just for the facts but for how the owner represents the business. Does he or she speak using technical language? Are the sentences long or short? Is there humor? This helps us to write in “their voice,” not our own, and is especially helpful when writing a speech the interviewee will be delivering. Most of the time our client remarks, “It sounds just like me!”
Get the Customer
Listening also helps us to uncover problems the owner may be having in the business, or issues their customers might be having. These can and should be addressed when creating good copy. Continue reading →
Seeing the Sale From the Other Side of the Desk
When I was director of marketing for a national company, my office was situated right next to that of the president’s. One day, he walked by my door and saw me sitting in the visitor chair at the opposite side of the desk than my normal chair. I was just sitting.
The president stopped in the doorway and asked me, “What are you doing?”
I answered, “I’m looking at the company from the customer’s point of view.”
We are often so busy working at our own jobs that we can overlook the point of view our customer sees. Therefore, it is good to either take a moment to “sit in their chair,” or hire an outside eye (trained consultant) who can identify just what it is the customer sees…and needs.
As a hired marketing consultant, I have made the tiniest tweaks in someone’s presentation, look, office, retail space or marketing strategy that have made huge differences the next time they Continue reading →
Value is What You Get
Price is what you pay.
Value is what you get.
I love this quote from Warren Buffett because it truly describes what sales and marketing is all about.
If your clients or customers are complaining about the price of the services or goods you are offering, they probably don’t understand the value of what they are buying. And this is where you need to beef up your marketing efforts.
We’ve all heard how we must feature the benefits of an item, not its features when selling. This concept takes that credo to a new level. People will pay — and pay handsomely — for something they value.
Within the past few months I had the opportunity to work with a start-up company in creating its brand and new website. We went round and round with the pricing for copywriting on their new site. If it weren’t for the fact that I was referred to them by someone they respected, I’m not sure they would have hired a copywriter at all. They simply didn’t see the value in good writing or the need to pay for it. But in the end, Continue reading →
Warning: Google’s October 2017 Deadline for SSL Certificates
If your website receives text input (like eCommerce) but does not have an SSL certificate, come October 2017 Google Chrome will begin “punishing” sites by posting a red “Not Secure” warning visible to anyone seeking out your website.
This means that your website address must read “https” at the beginning of its address, rather than “http”. When secure, the “s”, along with a lock icon will appear in the header bar in your web address.
Sensitive text input such as passwords and credit card information are vulnerable on unencrypted sites, and the “Not Secure” warning is a Continue reading →
The Two Best Ways to Market Online: Guest Post
All the Buzz is pleased to offer this guest post by William Skuba, Director of Marketing at Enable, a web design firm offering affordable web design, graphic design and marketing for small businesses.
The Two Best Ways to Market Online
I hate the word “marketing.”
Whenever I use it in conversation, I immediately see the person I’m talking to lose interest. His or her eyes glaze over, he gives a canned response like “Oh cool,” and I know he isn’t listening anymore.
And I don’t blame him.
What does the word “marketing” even mean? I hardly even know what it means, and I do it for a living.
The fact of the matter is, the term “marketing” has become a vague, meaningless term from decades of overuse. You see self-styled gurus on Facebook offering reports on: “Top 7 Secrets of Marketing,” or “The Content Marketing Hacks That Made Me My First Million.” And you see YouTube ads trying to sell training courses and webinars about how you too can make millions from home simply by starting a digital marketing agency.
But none of us really even knows what they mean by marketing. Continue reading →
Do You Have Passion For Your Business? Take This Quick Quiz.
If you don’t love your business, you probably dread going to work every day. It’s a bad feeling. And unfortunately, it is not only you who feels that way, your customers pick up on it as well.
They say that those who are passionate about what they do never feel as if they are working. Their passion is what drives them, and what makes them successful.
Wonder if you’re still passionate about your business? Take this quick quiz to find out: Continue reading →
Washington Post Reports Writing Skills Rising on the List of Job Requirements But Failing in Candidates
The Washington Post published an article on Sunday, August 13, 2017 titled “Writing skills are rising on the list of job requirements–and falling in candidates,” by Jeffrey K. Selingo.
Selingo continues to reports hearing an interviewer from government contracting firm, looking to hire proposal writers for federal agencies, complain about “how difficult it is to find good writers these days.” Continue reading →
Why Keywords Matter for SEO
Although the rules of search engine optimization (SEO) change frequently, one thing remains constant: the need for content that is keyword-relevant.
Not 20 years ago, it was easy to get noticed with your own website. But now that there are more than 1 billion websites on the World Wide Web, it is increasingly difficult to grab your audience’s attention and get them to click on your site. Continue reading →
The Difference Between a White Paper and an E-Book
Many business owners are told that they need to create a downloadable document that can help them explain their business, support their findings, provide education, set themselves apart as an expert in their field, or used as a free giveaway to help build a list. This can be a white paper or an e-book.
In speaking with business owners, I find that they are often confused about the differences between a white paper or an e-book and which is the appropriate item to create and offer. Continue reading →
All the Buzz 